You'd think that being married to Madonna, Guy Ritchie would have picked up on the value of occasionally reinventing oneself. But no, he keeps making the same movie, the same ultra-cool exercises in British gangster violence and stylish criminal shenanigans, and RockNRolla is the latest entry. Then again, the one time he did try something different, the result was Swept Away, so maybe he's wise to stay in his comfort zone.

At any rate, RockNRolla inspires strong feelings of "meh" in me. It's not nearly as clever, funny, or stylish as Snatch or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, though the accents are a lot less indecipherable this time around, so that's nice. It's also not as good as Gangster No. 1 or Sexy Beast or many of the other gritty British gangster capers that have come around in the last several years. It feels like a rerun -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing, after all. People watch reruns all the time.

Our narrator is Archie (Mark Strong), who works as the calm, suave right-hand man to Lenny (Tom Wilkinson), the most powerful money-lender and underworld boss in London. Half the city's councilors, judges, and cops are in Lenny's pocket, and he has leveraged this influence into a massive fortune in real estate.

Lenny is not a figure to be messed with, but the Russians don't know that. A new mover and shaker named Uri (Karel Roden) has come to town to strike a deal with Lenny -- it involves paying Lenny to bribe city officials to get a construction project underway -- and he's a formidable figure himself. Lenny is old school; Uri is dangerously modern.

While my favorite part of For Your Consideration is Marilyn Hack's plastic surgery, I also love that dreaded morning when the Oscar nominations get announced. Some actors wait anxiously to hear their name announced, while others, thinking they're totally off the Academy's radar, get nods while they're snoozing. Then, to add insult to injury, the losers get tracked down for embarrassing meltdowns and awkwardness on television. It's not quite that bad in real life, but as I read the reactions of those who received Golden Globe nominations, that movie keeps popping up in my head. So, check out these reactions, courtesy of Variety:

Dudes Chewing on Their Nails Hoping to Get Nominations: Jeremy Piven & Focus Features
"I got a call around 5:30, but I was up, believe it or not." -- Piven

"I was sitting here at Focus with about 35 very happy colleagues." -- FF head James Schamus on leading the studio nominations.

Those Who Prepared Speeches: Joe Wright, Atonement & Brad Bird, Ratatouille

"I think we were, as a team, very passionate about the film and story. I don't think we looked up from the little world we created around ourselves." "You need to make all actors feel loved, respected, and supported. That applies to the 12-year-old Saoirse Ronan or a slightly-older Vanessa Redgrave. Acting is an exposing and vulnerable job. You need to make them feel safe." -- Wright -- Extra props given for use of "slightly older."

"One of the messages of the film that most critics understood was that it wasn't anti-critic, but was saying if you're a critic or artist, don't get far away from what you love, and if, as a director, if you're focused on box office or awards and not the film itself, you'll take your eye off the ball." "And most importantly, this nomination shouldn't be taken as an endorsement for rats cooking our meals for us." -- Bird

Lads and Ladies with a Little Bit of Cockiness: Craig Zadan, Hairspray & Julie Taymor, Across the Universe

"It's so interesting that a couple of years ago we were accused of bringing the musical back with Chicago, and now you have this year with Sweeney Todd, Hairspray, and Across the Universe. There was no musical for so many years, and we're so proud of what Chicago has done for the musical." -- Zadan

"It's tremendous as we weren't on the pundits lists and didn't have big ads. I feel, in a way, that we were the engine that could. People vote from their heart, and I feel very gratified." -- Taymor

More About that Damned Strike: Piven, again! & Russ Smith, Juno

"I don't know about whether or not I'll be attending because to be honest with you, I don't know a lot about the rules and limitations of what is happening. I need to look into it. Writers are kind of these unsung heroes... I hope they get what they deserve, and I'll do anything I can to help that." -- Piven

"Our hope is that there's gonna be some sort of dispensation. Every day we're hoping they work something out, but we'll have to see." -- Smith -- In other words: please end the strike, I want my big moment!!

First came Jeremy Piven, who signed onto Chappelle's Show writer Neal Brennan's The Goods: The Don Ready Story back in August. While it sounds like something Will Ferrell would head, he's just producing the film, which has Piven playing "a used-car liquidator hired to save a struggling dealership during a Fourth of July weekend sale." The pot was sweetened last month when Ving Rhames also signed on, as well as Anchorman co-star David Koechner. But what used car scenario is complete without the female guns?

The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Kathryn Hahn has been tapped to play the lone woman in Don Ready's (Piven) team of used-car liquidators. In fact, THR describes them as "mercenary car salesman," which should be interesting for the comedy, unless the use of "mercenary" was just an outbreak of writer flair. Aside from playing Lily Lebowski on Crossing Jordan for the past six years, Hahn has appeared in her share of cinematic comedy, which includes, not surprisingly, a role in Anchorman. With Ferrell producing, and Koechner and Hahn signed on, which Anchorman member will be next? There's a heck of a lot of great names to choose from -- Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, Fred Willard, Chris Parnell, Fred Armisen, Seth Rogen, Danny Trejo...

You aren't anybody unless you're famous enough for rival biopics. I hope you all celebrated the holiday yesterday by watching both Gérard Depardieu and Georges Corraface in their respective, rival Columbus films. Coming in the future, we may also get competing movies about Harvey Milk, Philip K. Dick, Sammy Davis, Jr. and now Pablo Escobar. We've long followed news regarding Joe Carnahan's movie about the Colombian drug lord, who will be played there by Javier Bardem, but now Variety reports another Escobar pic in the works. This one will be produced by Oliver Stone, directed by Antoine Fuqua and is simply titled Escobar. It's based on the book "Mi Hermano Pablo", written by the cocaine king's brother, Roberto Escobar Gaviria, who worked as accountant and confidant to Pablo.

So, this looks like it will be more of a life-encompassing biopic. It also appears to be going into production ahead of Carnahan's film, Killing Pablo, since Carnahan is first working on White Jazz while Escobar is fully financed and ready to begin shooting in Colombia and Puerto Rico in early 2008. All that needs finishing is the script rewrite, which is being done by David McKenna, who already wrote a bit about Escobar in his screenplay for Blow (he was played by Cliff Curtis). Variety doesn't mention who Stone and Fuqua have or are casting in the title role of their film, which means it may not be secure. I'm sure some people would like to see Adrian Grenier play the part, as he does via his character Vinnie Chase on the show Entourage, but that would actually be a terrible idea. Personally, I'd like them to go back to Curtis, but for a long-term biopic they'll likely want someone younger, as well as someone more familiar to audiences.

I also wish that Stone was directing this himself -- even if he really annoyed the heck out of me recently -- because he seems to know the territory. And because he thanked "Ari Gold" (Jeremy Piven's character on Entourage) when talking to Variety about the project. But he should do just fine overseeing Fuqua's direction, a job he's sharing with former Malcolm in the Middle older brother Justin Berfield, Jason Felts and James Reach.

I don't know why I think of Ving Rhames as a tough guy dramatic actor first and a comedic actor second. Even his most iconic role, as Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction, was simply a straight-played comic part. Throughout his career he's been in a lot of comedies, from the truly awful (Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot) to the near-perfect (Out of Sight). But I guess lately, aside from the recent I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, he's been pigeon-holed as best-suited for crime thrillers, prison dramas and well-produced horror films, with an occasional fun action pic like the Mission:Impossible movies. Personally, I'd love him to do another movie that mixes all those genres with a touch of comedy, a la the guilty pleasure Con-Air, but I'll settle for just a comedy. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rhames has signed on to Paramount Vantage's The Goods: The Don Ready Story, which Monika told us recently will star Jeremy Piven as a used car salesman. Also joining the cast is Anchorman's David Koechner.

It wasn't mentioned what kind of characters Rhames and Koechner will be playing, but hopefully they're fellow used car salesmen working alongside Piven, who, more specifically, is a guy who must save the struggling dealership over a Fourth of July weekend. The most logical idea, though, is that whatever Rhames' role, he will be some combination of humor and muscle; the combination is one of the reasons that Rhames can do comedy and still retain his reputation as a bad ass, unlike some other people (please don't ever put Rhames in a babysitting comedy!). The comedy will be produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay via their new company Gary Sanchez Productions, along with Chris Henchy (Entourage) and Kevin Messick (A Lot Like Love). The script was written by Rick Stempson and Andy Stock, who also wrote the upcoming Seann William Scott movie Gary the Tennis Coach. It will be directed by Chappelle's Show actor/writer/director Neal Brennan.

Although he's spent the last four years co-starring on the television show Entourage, Jeremy Piven usually pops up in all sorts of movies. (Was Smokin' Aces part comedy?) Before that was Keeping Up with the Steins -- not so awesome -- but before that, well, he was in the well-beloved Old School. (Plus Weinberg tells me he's a scene-stealer in The Kingdom.) Now The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Piven will team up with School castmate Will Ferrell for a new comedy called The Goods: The Don Ready Story. Wait, before you imagine some Ricky Bobby or Ron Burgundy character, this flick ain't starring Ferrell -- it's all Piven's. This time around, Ferrell will stay behind the camera as producer under he and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions.

Ready will star Piven as "a used-car liquidator hired to save a struggling dealership during a Fourth of July weekend sale." Scribes Rick Stempson and Andy Stock wrote the script, but since their first project, Gary the Tennis Coach, doesn't come out until next year -- there's no telling how this will play out. The comedy will, however, be directed by Neal Brennan -- Half Baked writer and Chappelle's Show co-creator, which should mean good things for the flick. Now, considering the last handful of comedies to have names in the titles (many of which involved Ferrell), it'll be interesting to see which way this goes. While he's no stranger to comedy, Piven isn't so much of the strange and goofy. As long as this is nothing like Bruce Willis' Breakfast of Champions, we should be in good shape!

And no, I'm not kidding. If you read Cinematical enough (and you should!), you're probably already aware of Joe Carnahan's plans to make a direct-to-video Smokin' Aces prequel. While he won't be directing, Carnahan is involved in some capacity, and has been talking up the project quite a bit on his own blog. I was fairly entertained by the original -- I think it succeeded in what it set out to do (with fantastic performances from Jason Bateman and Jeremy Piven), but I absolutely despised the ending. I won't ruin it for those folks who haven't seen it yet, but let's just say it felt like I was coming down from a high ... real hard. Anyway, Carnahan (and his crew) have come up with an interesting way to start promoting the new DTV prequel. That's right, he's asking YOU to name it.

Yup, you can head over to Carnahan's blog right now and participate in the little contest. First up, the director offers up a small plot description that reads: "'A low level government analyst, with forty plus years working an FBI information post, is slated to be assassinated, for reasons unknown at an exact date and time within the next three days. A federal 'Grab Team' or close protection detail has been tasked with saving this man's life...' ...chaos ensues.' The action takes place in D.C. and in New Orleans. Some familiar faces return. Some very surprising. I won't say any more." Carnahan then goes on to stress that, if your title is chosen, you will not be compensated with money. Instead, you'll probably get a whole bunch of movie swag and a free DVD. Oh, and tons and tons of bragging rights. So if you think you can come up with something better than Smokin' Aces 2: The Sh*t Hits the Fan -- by all means, take a stab at it. The contest began yesterday, and Carnahan will run it for exactly two weeks. Good luck!

Slow bit by slow bit, the Weinstein Co.'s CG monster movie Igor is getting closer to the screens, but it's not without its share of excitement. Back in March, John Cusack replaced Christian Slater in the title role -- a move still good for the movie, but I can't help but mourn for Slater's participation -- I think his voice would've been great for a wacky scientist. Now we've got another main actor hitting the dust. Jeremy Piven is now out as Igor's nemesis, Schadenfreude, and flamboyant actor Eddie Izzard is in -- it's a pretty big shift in style, but I'm sure it will work just fine. The Hollywood Reporter tried to contact Piven's rep for word on why he left the project, but have yet to hear back.

Unsurprisingly, this change comes with some other news -- the film's producer, Exodus Film Group, has signed a deal for a series of comic books based on the film. This will include adaptations of the movie as well as prequels and sequels. Each series -- the film, prequel and sequel are set to come out starting in May or June of 2008, with the sets published in book form before the film's October 2008 release. If you want to catch up on the project, you can check out my post here, which gives a list of links dating back to 2005.